The Free At Noon with Ray LaMontagne at World Cafe Live in Philadelphia is SOLD OUT but you can WATCH LIVE on VUHAUS!

This Friday, March 4th, Ray Lamontagne drops his new album, Ourorboros (produced by Jim James of My Morning Jacket) and joins us for a Free At Noon Concert to celebrate! Ray will be back in Philly on his upcoming tour on June 18th when he takes the stage at Festival Pier at Penns Landing.

It's a bit hard to believe that God Willin' & The Creek Don't Rise is the fourth album from the soulful singer-songwriter Ray LaMontagne. It doesn’t seem so far off from when many of us first stopped us in our tracks upon hearing the song “Trouble” from his debut album. But over the course of his career, Ray has captivated audiences with an emotionally driven songbook, a voice that summons goose bumps and a fascinating aversion to the spotlight he so requires.

Whether or not Ray LaMontagne will become this generation's Van Morrison is something that's yet to be determined, but you'll be hard-pressed to find another singer who combines light and dark, power and subtlety as well as this New Hampshire native. His second album - Till The Sun Turns Black - is another well thought-out, well delivered set of music.

One of XPN’s Artists To Watch for 2004, singer-songwriter, Ray Lamontagne explains how Stephen Stills saved his life. One of six children raised by a single mom who worked hard to make ends meet, Lamontagne – who barely made it out of high school left his family for Lewiston, Maine. Bored, going nowhere in his life and doing some serious soul searching Ray was in Lewiston working long hard hours in a shoe factory when he experienced a musical epiphany.

It's a bit hard to believe that God Willin' & The Creek Don't Rise is the fourth album from the soulful singer-songwriter Ray LaMontagne. It doesn’t seem so far off from when many of us first stopped us in our tracks upon hearing the song “Trouble” from his debut album. But over the course of his career, Ray has captivated audiences with an emotionally driven songbook, a voice that summons goose bumps and a fascinating aversion to the spotlight he so requires.

On his third album, Gossip in the Grain, Ray LaMontagne breaks out of his own mold a bit, relying less on lamenting love loss and seemingly is more centered on expanding into more hopeful musical territories . The album's opening track is evidence. "You Are the Best Thing" is perhaps, up to this point, the most optimistic we've ever heard Ray.

Whether or not Ray LaMontagne will become this generation's Van Morrison is something that's yet to be determined, but you'll be hard-pressed to find another singer who combines light and dark, power and subtlety as well as this New Hampshire native. His second album - Till The Sun Turns Black - is another well thought-out, well delivered set of music.

One of XPN’s Artists To Watch for 2004, singer-songwriter, Ray Lamontagne explains how Stephen Stills saved his life. One of six children raised by a single mom who worked hard to make ends meet, Lamontagne – who barely made it out of high school left his family for Lewiston, Maine. Bored, going nowhere in his life and doing some serious soul searching Ray was in Lewiston working long hard hours in a shoe factory when he experienced a musical epiphany.

Ray LaMontagne reached new heights with his third studio release in 2008, "Gossip in the Grain," and the album solidified the musician as a great musician, and a worldwide phenomenon. Reaching #3 on the charts, Ray also performed on SNL. His fans across the world are hotly waiting for his new release of "God Willin' & The Creek Don't Rise,"on August 17. This country tinged album, His new CD was recorded - with his band, The Pariah Dogs - complete with banjo and slide guitar in LaMontagne's woodsey home in Massachusetts.

Ray LaMontagne and The Pariah Dogs, will perform live on August 13 as part of WXPN's and NPR's Live Friday Free At Noon Concert Series. The new album can be heard on NPR.org/music, in its entirety, until its official release on August 17.

Come and experience Ray LaMontagne's stirring emotion, grit, and warmth as he performs WXPN's Live Friday Free At Noon
concert, only at the World Cafe Live on Friday at 12noon ET. Hear it on your radio, or at XPN.org/listen, or join as at World Cafe Live.

PARKING NOTICE and Directions

Due to the construction in the area, free parking is no longer available for XPN Free At Noon shows. Metered parking on 31st street is no longer available, and metered parking on Walnut Street is extremely limited as a result of the closure and reconstruction of the South Street Bridge, and the rerouting of traffic onto Walnut Street.

Public transportation to XPN Free At Noon is recommended. For more information on parking in the area visit World Cafe Live.